He deprives the trusted of speech and takes away the discernment of elders.
Parallel translations
- WEB He removes the speech of those who are trusted, and takes away the understanding of the elders.
- KJV He removeth away the speech of the trusty, and taketh away the understanding of the aged.
- NKJV He deprives the trusted ones of speech, And takes away the discernment of the elders.
- NASB “He deprives the trusted ones of speech, And takes away the discernment of the elders.
- NLT He silences the trusted adviser and removes the insight of the elders.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God removes the speech of trusted advisers and takes away the discernment of elders. He silences the respected and wise.
Overview
Job affirms that God can strip eloquent counselors of speech and aged leaders of judgment. Human reliability and wisdom are gifts that God may grant or withdraw. The verse humbles all confidence in human leadership and turns us to the God whose counsel alone stands forever, supremely in His plan of salvation through Christ (Psalm 33:10-11; Isaiah 46:10).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Job 32:9It is not only the old who are wise, or the elderly who understand justice.
- Job 17:4You have closed their minds to understanding; therefore You will not exalt them.
- Job 12:24He deprives the earth’s leaders of reason and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.
- Job 39:17For God has deprived her of wisdom; He has not endowed her with understanding.
- Isa 3:1–3For behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts is about to remove from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support: the whole supply of food and water,
- Prov 12:19Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.
- Prov 12:22Lying lips are detestable to the LORD, but those who deal faithfully are His delight.
- Prov 10:21The lips of the righteous feed many, but fools die for lack of judgment.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 12:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.